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Make that your market mantra, even though discussing issues now menacing the financial markets will make you sound like a U.S. senator or think-tank pundit. The irony of the incessant focus on macro risks to the market is that the subjects are mostly ones that Wall Street has trouble modeling, much less predicting, like international relations (Syria) and Washington (federal budget battles).

Even the endless debate about what happens to stocks and bonds if the Fed tapers its bond-buying is hard to handicap. Tapering is supposedly bad for stocks and bonds. But if the central bank thinks the economy is stable enough to support tapering, isn't that good for corporate revenue and earnings and, ultimately, stocks?

THIS IS WHY IT IS TEMPTING to knee-jerk into a contrarian trade like buying slightly out-of-the-money November
SPDR S&P 500 TrustSPY -0.3820934949761781%SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustU.S.: NYSE Arca211.18
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81010587
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N/AMarket Cap
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N/AMore quote details and news »SPYinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(ticker: SPY) calls to position yourself for a possible surge in the S&P 500, simply because so many people are speaking with such confidence about so many hard-to-forecast issues.

If you accept that opportunity can be masked by uncertainty—as surely as September is the stock market's most volatile month—opportunity beckons.

Some of Goldman Sachs' top strategists and analysts have developed an "innovation" trading menu, filled with companies having inexpensive options that underestimate the chance the stocks could double.

JOHN MARSHALL, A GOLDMAN derivatives strategist, says that each of these stocks has its own timeline of key catalysts.

Most of the companies are expected to disclose results on earnings or analyst days. Some await important drug-test results; others will introduce new products.

"We find that in most cases options are pricing in a much higher potential for failure [evidenced by traders buying more puts than calls] than success," he advised clients in a Friday note.

Examples of potential catalysts, based on Goldman's expectations: • Toll Brothers earnings will jump 100% next year, due to a strong position in the high-end and West Coast housing markets, even without a cyclical recovery.

• Pandora, whose subscribers can create custom online and radio music playlists, may post 100% year-over-year growth in earnings per share.

• Michael Kors will enjoy strong handbag sales and see its European business grow.

• Bargain retailer Five Below will expand to 2,000 stores from 215, which Goldman is telling clients could boost earnings per share by 35% for several years.

The risk here is that the list reflects the views of just one bank. So study each stock and the potential catalysts before deciding whether to initiate a trade.

Don't rush into anything without doing thorough research. Yes, six-month options expirations are distant enough as to be somewhat immune to rapid price changes, provided the stocks don't surge. And, yes, it's true that call options cost a fraction of the price of the underlying shares. But lost money is lost money.